


Where the Sea Meets the Sky

by ValhallanRose



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:14:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23616604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValhallanRose/pseuds/ValhallanRose
Summary: New house, new life, new...creatures?Zelda did not expect that her home would come with a seaside neighbor when she moved in - nor did she expect to fall so head over heels in love for him with every passing day.(A Mermaid AU inspired by bazzpop on tumblr)
Relationships: Apprentice & Asra (The Arcana), Apprentice/Asra (The Arcana), Asra (The Arcana)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	Where the Sea Meets the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to bazzpop for being super chill and letting me use their Mer!Asra headcanons as inspiration for this story. Highly recommend checking them out because their content is just *chef's kiss*

I sigh heavily as I drop the box onto the mattress, looking around the room.

“You really did pick a good one, Auntie Rowena.” A white terrier leaps up onto the bed beside the box, and I reach out to scratch behind her ears. “You miss her too, huh, Scout?”

As if sensing the heavy mood in the air, Scout whines, and I lean down to kiss the top of her furry white nose. 

I hadn’t connected with my aunt until rather late in my life - through one of those DNA heritage tests, of all things, because my father didn’t even know he had a half-sister. Since then, though, she became a fixture in our family. The woman was a riot, a hellion, and the funniest person I’d ever met. Rowena had met the love of her life fifty years before and the two of them traveled the world together. Unfortunately, Aurora had passed two years ago, and Rowena had followed her about eight months ago in her sleep during a stay with us - she hadn’t been able to bear staying in the house when Aurora died. 

And she chose to leave the house to me, of all people, since it had been paid off and she knew I was looking to move out. This was on top of the ungodly amount of money she’d left my family - apparently she’d been a well-to-do businesswoman who invested in all the right places prior to retirement. 

So apparently I never had to work again if I didn’t want to. That was nice.

Well, I’d still find something to do. I’d go stir crazy if I just sat around the house all day…

Scout barks loudly at the door to the bedroom, and I jolt, startled out of my reverie to look at her. She throws her front legs down on the floor, tail wagging eagerly, then barks again. I laugh and turn, picking her leash up off the table and wrapping it around my arm. “Alright, alright, we’ll go on a walk.”

I giggle as Scout circles my feet, and the terrier sprints down the hall as soon as I pick up my keys. I pause to look around, noting the still unpacked boxes, and shrug before I follow. 

I open the back door and Scout bolts down the porch steps, but a quick whistle brings her back to my side. I lean down, scratch her head, and gesture loosely to the boarded walkway heading into the woods. “Let’s go to the beach, baby. Want a late night swim? Do you? Do you?”

Scout yaps before bolting down the walkway, and I can’t help but laugh and grin before racing after her down toward the distant sound of waves beyond the treeline. Her leash jingles in my hand, barely audible over the sounds of my feet hitting the boards and the bell on her collar rattling loudly in the air. 

Soon, our feet and paws hit the sand, and Scout hits the water in a spray of salty mist. I follow after, snatching a piece of driftwood from the sand and dropping her unclipped leash just out of the reach of the waves. I wind my arm back and toss it hard into the air, and Scout swims after it, snatching it up in her mouth before looking back at the shore. 

We continue the cycle of toss and return for a few moments before Scout finally abandons the stick, panting as she swims back to the shore.

When she’s back on the sand, I pick up her leash, and she’s in the middle of shaking off the salty water when her ears prick. Scout’s dark eyes shift off to the side, and before I can react she sprints off toward the rocks at the edge of the beach. 

“Motherfucker - ” I mutter, racing after her as she makes an attempt to climb over the rocks towards something on the side. “Scout, what the hell?”

As I get closer to the rock, I try and see what she’s losing her mind over - and I’m floored by the sight.

Despite Scout drooling all over this person’s face, he is...absolutely gorgeous. Damp white curls cling to high cheekbones, and even in the pale moonlight his skin is a beautiful shade of gold. As I approach, he’s laughing, trying to push Scout away when she smears her tongue across his nose. 

I somehow manage to pick my jaw up off the sand and whistle, making Scout pause and perk up. The man freezes and seems to press closer to the rocks when he sees me, but I only give him a smile before I snap my fingers and point down to the sand in front of me.

Scout leaps off the rock and bounds toward me, then lifts her head up to let me clip her leash to her collar for now. 

“I’m sorry about that.” I call, turning my gaze back to the person...laying down behind the rocks? “Scout’s an energetic dog, but I think she’d lick you to death if you give her the chance. Are you alright?”

They’re unnaturally still, but slowly, he nods. I smile at that and lean down to pet Scout, who’s happily panting at my feet. “Want to pet her? She loves attention - I’ll just keep her on the leash so she doesn’t get too intense. I swear, it’s like she thinks she never gets any.”

He just...stares, wide-eyed, as if unsure of what to say or do. I try and just offer another smile back, and Scout fills the silence with her happy panting, flopping back on her haunches to look between us both. There’s another long silence before I feel I need to take the hint, and I awkwardly tug on the hem of my shorts. 

“Well, I, um...I think I’m going to head home.” I shift my weight and Scout stands, licking my bare calf. “Sorry again about Scout.”

I turn, and I’ve hardly made it two steps before I hear a soft voice call out over the rolling waves. 

‘Wait.”

I look back over my shoulder, and the man has pushed himself up, his chest and abdomen visible above the rocks he presses his hands against. Dear god, I could _drool._ Quickly, I shake it off and turn to look at him, cheeks somewhat warm as I do. “What’s up?”

“I…” He rolls his lower lips between his teeth, and I force myself to lock my gaze on his pretty amethyst eyes as he blurts out, “I want to pet the dog.”

Scout’s tail wags with a speed that should cause gale-force winds. I laugh and nod, turning back around and starting to walk us both toward the rocks. Scout pulls at the leash briefly, but a quick command has her relaxing until we can circle to the other side of the rocks. I smile as we approach, and then when the man is fully in sight…

The leash falls from my hand and Scout leaps towards him, but I can only stare down at his legs stretched out in front of him. 

No, not legs. 

Tail. 

The scales there are iridescent, shifting from pale pink to lavender to light blue as Scout leaps into his lap for pets. Long-nailed fingers comb through her white fur, the webbing between them that same shifting color as his tail. And his fins...I don’t know how I didn’t see them before. The ones at the end of his tail are longest, a broad fan that slaps the sand under my stare. My gaze travels back up, over the point where scales transition to smooth skin, spying smaller fins outside his hips and where human thighs would be, and I can see gills at his ribs when he moves his arms to scratch at Scout’s belly. Another set of gills at his neck. A fin protrudes from each side of his head, much smaller, where his ears would be if he were human - and with his smile, I can see the sharper points to his teeth behind his lips. 

Dangerous, maybe...but I feel as if I’ve been shot through the heart.

“Holy shit.” I manage, and his amethyst eyes flicker up toward me. I can see the amusement in his eyes from this close.

Slowly, I step toward him, and he watches as he continues to stroke his fingers through Scout’s fur. When I sink down beside him in the sand, that amusement turns to intrigue, and I reach out with one hand to slowly scratch behind Scout’s ears. 

“I...you’re very beautiful.” I whisper, and he makes a choking noise as my face burns. I can see his face going pink out of the corner of my eye. “I’ve never seen anyone like you before.”

His hand travels from Scout’s back to gently brush against my own, but just as quickly falls back into her fur. “Thank you.” He murmurs, and the small smile pulling at his lips encourages me to continue.

“This is Scout.” I tap my finger to her wet nose. “She’s a Sealyham Terrier. I’m Zelda.”

His other hand lifts, and I feel his knuckles brush against my cheek, curiosity clear in his gaze as I lean slightly into the touch. “Zelda...I am Asra.” He opens his hand and passes his fingers through my hair, watching the strands pass through his fingers. “I think you’re very beautiful yourself.”

“Asra.” I whisper, testing the name, and Asra smiles brightly as he nods. “Thank you.”

We sit in a long silence before I speak again, unable to keep myself from blurting out, “I didn’t think merpeople were real.”

Asra snorts, giving me a cheeky look as Scout settles her head in his lap. “I promise you that I am very much real.” He leans back on his hands, cool ocean water washing over his fingers. “As real as you are.”

I blush, and he smiles, touching two fingers to my cheekbone so gently it makes me blush more. 

“Ursa Major.” Asra says quietly, and when my brow furrows, he traces a gentle pattern over my skin. “Orion...Taurus, and Cygnus.”

“I don’t understand.” I whisper, hesitant to break whatever spell is between us. 

He taps my cheek, brows furrowing slightly. “We - merfolk - don’t have these. I see these spots on humans in the market, but...never up close.”

“Spots…?” I look down, and then tap my freckles arm. “Oh, these are called freckles. I get them when I’m out in the sun a lot. I like being outside, so...I have a ton.” 

Asra nods, and one of his pointed nails traces a pattern between some of the freckles on my arm. “Gemini.” He murmurs, then seems to come back from wherever his mind was to look me in the eye. “I like to stargaze. I know the constellations like the back of my hand. And...I can find them here.” 

He taps my arm lightly, and my face heats as he traces another pattern. “It’s like I can find all the stars in your skin. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.” 

My face downright _flames_ then, and he looks up, giving me a mischievous smile as I cover my mouth with one hand. Asra chuckles and lets his hand come back up to my hair, smoothing it out where the wind had ruffled it earlier. His hand slows, resting on the back of my neck. I can feel the slight movement of his thumb against my skin, but I’m fixed on the look in his eyes - the sheer intrigue shining within them. Then his ear fins perk up, and he turns his gaze out over the water, looking for something I cannot see and nodding when he finds it. 

“I have to go.” Asra’s voice is soft as he pulls away and nudges Scout off his lap. Scout whines, and he gives her one last scratch behind his ears. He pulls away and turns and suddenly I’m grabbing that slender wrist - 

Asra freezes, looking back at me, to my hand, and I quickly pull away and tuck my hands under my thighs.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have grabbed.” He settles back on the sand briefly, eyes locked onto the skin of his wrist. “I hope I didn’t hurt you. I, um...I wanted to know if you’ll come back.” 

Amethyst eyes lift to look at me through ghostly white lashes, and he smiles, teeth bright in the light of the full moon. But I’m not afraid. 

“You want me to come back?” He asks softly, and I nod, running my fingers through Scout’s fur. 

“You know, animals are really good judges of character. Scout’s friendly, but she won’t be all over you like that unless she really likes you. So...I trust her opinion of you.” Scout barks, making Asra jump, but the smile on his face has only grown. 

One white curl falls into his face as he looks at me. “You didn’t answer my question.” 

I blink once. Twice. “I thought that was a pretty obvious yes.” 

He beams, and if I hadn’t been sitting already, that smile would have sent me to my knees. “I’ll come tomorrow.” He promises, and with the speed of a viper, Asra leans in and presses a light kiss to my cheek. 

Before I can do anything, he’s gone, the last sight of him being the flash of that iridescent tailfin disappearing beneath the waves. 

As I stare at the spot his tail slipped underwater, I touch my fingers to my cheek to where he had kissed me. My face warms under my fingers, and as I sit there under the canopy of dark sky and bright stars, I come to realize something from that short encounter.

“Come on, Scout.” I say after a moment, and she trots back toward me so I can pick up her leash. As I do, she turns her head back to the sea and whines, as if trying to will Asra back for more pets. “I know, baby. We’ll come back, I promise.”

After a little more coaxing, I get Scout to start back up the walkway, and I cast a last glance toward the sea. I have to tell myself that the flash of white on the water is not his hair, but merely the light of the moon, and turn back to leave the ocean behind me.

Whether he intended it or not...Asra enchanted something within me that is already longing for his return, deep within my heart.


End file.
